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Major City
Chicago;Springfield;and Galva
Top Tourist Sites
In Springfield:
The only house Abraham Lincoln ever owned, which is open to the public;
Lincoln's tomb, an impressive monument
In Chicago:
The Art Institution of Chicago, a house to one of the world's finest collections of paintings and sculptures;
The Alder Planetaium, which dazzles visitors with prentations of the heavens;
O'Hare Airport, one of the world's buisiest airports
In Galva:
Bishop Hill, which is home to several old buildings and a collection of primitive American paintings
State Symbols
Bird:

Cardinal
Flower:
Violet
Nickname:

Prairie State
Motto:
"State Sovereignty, National Union"
Famous or Fun Facts
1. Female Italian nun Mother Cabrini came to Chicago to do missionary work, and was made a Saint for founding the school of the Church of the Assumption.
2.The University of Chicago's professors have won 69 Nobel Prizes.
3.Illinois institute of Technology in Chicago received one of the largest pledges of money ever given to a cllege- $120,000,000!
Geography
500 rivers and streams flow through Illinois. Illinois' highest point, Charles Mound, raises 1,235 feet above sea level. Southern Illinois features gentle hills and rocky glens. Illinois is a plain.
Climate
The weather is violent; thunhderstorms erupt suddenly on fine summer days, temperatures plunge over winter nights, blizzards can bury cities and paralyze traffic without warning, winters in the northern areas are intensely cold and can last into April, gentle breezes delight Illinoians, and raging tornadoes howl over plains, ripping houses from foundations.